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5 Reasons to Keep an Internship Journal

This blog post was written by Kristyn Anguiano, senior sociology major and film and television studies minor and Campus Ambassador at Loyola Marymount University. Follow her on Twitter @KristynMA.

Every intern has a tool or item that they swear by throughout their internship. Many interns enjoy having an internship diary, and here’s why:

1. Know who you met: Usually the first couple of days of your internship are when you are introduced to your coworkers and supervisors. Depending on how large the company is it can be difficult to remember everyone. If you have an internship diary, however, you can keep track of everyone you meet throughout your internship. You can do this during your lunch break or after work. It can also be helpful to write down anything you two talked about or any distinguishing features or characteristics. Connect with them on LinkedIn but be sure to send them a personalized invite!

2. Keep track of what you did: This is very important especially when you are revising your resume for future internships or jobs. If you write down what you did at your internship each week it will come in handy later on!

3. Remind your supervisor of what you accomplished: When the semester starts to wind down and you ask your supervisor for a letter of recommendation you will know what tasks you completed during your internship and you can give them a list of the ones you were most proud of. This will make their job easier and you look very prepared!

4. Have examples for future interviews: This is similar to the previous two points but now that you have kept track of exactly what you did during your internship you can give specific examples of ways you took leadership, times you resolved a conflict, etc. in future interviews and WOW prospective employers!

5. Look back: After the internship is over you can use it to look back and remember your experience there. You can see how much you learned and how much you grew over a short amount of time. I like to start an internship by putting in my internship journal what my goals are and when I look back I can see if I achieved those.

So go make memories and have great experiences, but be sure to write them down!